Expo entices maritime visitors from 46 countries
This week Sydney’s International Convention Centre will host what organisers believe is the largest maritime-related industry exposition in Australia’s history.
This week Sydney’s International Convention Centre will host what organisers believe is the largest maritime-related industry exposition in Australia’s history.
Running from November 7 to 9, the 2023 Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition will combine a three-day conference program, international industry exhibition and formal networking functions.
With about 800 participating companies and visitors from 46 countries, the event will create a key platform for engagement between naval defence and commercial maritime industries, govern-ment and defence leaders, researchers and academia from Australia, the region and around the world.
Indo Pacific provides an interface between an Australian Defence Force seeking maritime capability, and the industry which can provide it.
It is where the Australian Chief of Navy and his service engage with their domestic industry base as well as international suppliers, and where the chief’s own Sea Power Conference explores issues of strategy, workforce and culture for the Royal Australian Navy.
As an event attracting international interest, Indo Pacific also enables senior Royal Australian Navy leaders to engage with their opposite numbers in the navies of Australia’s allies in a bilateral meeting program that furthers understanding of the capability Australia can bring to any coalition.
Held every two years, the exposition has never been more timely. Australia’s Navy is acquiring or planning to introduce major new platforms, including a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines through the AUKUS partnership with the US and the UK, plus a new family of Hunter-class frigates and new offshore patrol vessels. This is in addition to planned upgrades to existing platforms, including an enhanced long-range strike capability, along with associated electronics and communications systems, sensors and munitions.
The Indo Pacific region, perhaps more than any in the world, is critically dependent on sea lanes for trade and transport and is home to some of the world’s largest shipbuilding nations and busiest ports. For Australia, an effective and well-equipped navy and the sovereign industrial base required to support it are both priorities.
Signature maritime event
Even before it opens its doors, Indo Pacific 2023 has been hailed as the largest yet. Organiser AMDA Foundation has recorded about 800 participating exhibitor companies on the event’s exhibition floor, with every Australian state and territory highlighting its own industry capability through government-led pavilions.
There is a host of overseas companies represented, including five international pavilions – a record for this event – from the US, UK, New Zealand, Italy and Japan.
Indo Pacific 2023 will also host more than 170 defence, industry, government and academic delegations, from 46 nations. This includes 25 international chiefs of navy or their counterparts and 21 representatives.
The supporting conference program is a snapshot of the issues facing both defence and commercial fleets today. Delegates can choose from more than 90 conferences, symposia and presentations, including the Chief of Navy’s own Sea Power Conference and the key IMC International Maritime Conference, presented by the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, and Engineers Australia. They will bookend a host of symposia and presentations on the gamut of naval issues, from nuclear technology to corrosion protection, power-plant developments, satellite data advances and the role of uncrewed vehicles.
With trade visitor registration outstripping the 2022 event, Indo Pacific 2023 is also likely to exceed its previous record of 25,000 attendances across the three days.
For industry, Indo Pacific 2023 means three days surrounded by the key players in the region’s maritime community, and taking advantage of an event specifically crafted to help them promote their products and services.
The combination of Navy, Defence, industry and civil programs attracts and engages personnel at all levels, from Chief of Navy and chief executives of major prime contractors, to ministers, government agency and acquisition program personnel, those who conceive and build today’s cutting-edge technologies, and those whose lives may one day depend on them. It is the drawcard that brings the maritime community together in the national interest.
The Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition is specifically designed and structured to enable and encourage engagement between participants at all levels, through the industry exhibition, specialist conferences, networking events or simply through the sheer concentration of Defence, industry, government and academia on one site.
Indo Pacific 2023 International Maritime Exposition is at Sydney’s International Convention Centre until Thursday. To find out more, go to indopacificexpo.com.au
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